Thursday, August 26, 2010

Chromium being the open source browser component of Google Chrome has an open policy for bug reports accepting all reports from any source. To help this effort they have a Reward Program where individuals reporting new security can get anywhere from a $500 to $1337 as a reward. They even have a Hall Of Fame.

Saturday, August 14, 2010

I like whatever happened at the BBC recently to caused their technology coverage to reach an acceptable level of quality.

However some of their science coverage still leaves a little to be desired. This Piece on meat from cloned animals just talks through the process and doesn't cover the reasons for or against the technology. Despite my love of science and my strong belief we need to spend more on science and make greater strides, I think cloning farm animals like this is a mistake. Many cloned animals are born with defects and the farm animals we have today where created through a process of selective breeding which is perfectly adequate for our purposes.

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

I have watched many films and rated many films through film rental services and looking at how I rate films and how others rate them out of five I have come up with a breakdown of the "out of five" rating system.

1/5 A bad film, makers didn't even try.

2/5 Makers tried to create a good film, but the parts just didn't come together.

3/3 An average film, good, entertaining, but nothing more.

4/5 A film where everything comes together so well it clicks.

5/5 A film that is better than the sum of it's parts and stands as an excellent exsample of film-making.

What I like about the five point rating system is it's ability to give more detail that just a thumbs up or down, but also the ability to not judge a film too precisely and allow each viewer to experience the film on their own terms. Giving a film a five out of five rating says it is very good, but doesn't put an unnecessarily high level of expectation that a ten out of ten, or a one hundred out of one hundred rating would.